Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1332685
11 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 JANUARY 2021 OPINION A relevant mediascape coffee morning, a Bingo Night, or a wine and pizza party at Montekristo Estates… It's a meat market, and we all know it. And it is also a direct, net contributor to the culture of political-backscratch- ing that we all like to complain about so much… except, of course, when we ourselves come in need of a few political 'favours' here and there. (Let's face it: we could all use a moratorium on utility bills every five years or so. And we all know that nobody would ever come and fill in that pothole down the road… you know, the one that's already cost you two tyres year, and maybe a broken axle… if there wasn't an election campaign going on…). And while it may not have been their actual intention, it was this same cul- ture that both Robert Abela and Bernard Grech tried (only one of them successful- ly) to challenge, with their respective po- litical chess-moves this past week. Abela, by replacing an established, popular can- didate with a political newbie – raising district-level ire in the process; And Grech, by attempting to tone down certain candidates' district power-bases, in favour of less widely-known faces. So the way I see it, at least… yes, you could say that they were both 'right' (in the intention, anyway… though not in the execution). That culture needs to be challenged. Bernard Grech's case alone illustrates the sheer danger our district system pos- es to the run of democratic play: it forced the Opposition leader to retain a tired, already-defeated team in place… not be- cause they strengthen his chances of win- ning the election (quite the opposite, in fact)… but because, in our political sys- tem, the individual power-structure of a single candidate takes precedence over all other considerations: including the inter- est of the party as a whole. Conversely, the anger reportedly felt among Gulia's constituents points to- wards (no offence to Gavin himself) the corrosive effect this system has on the electorate as a whole. After all, not every- one is equally repulsed by the same cul- ture of favours and nepotism… indeed, many among us openly defend it; and some even end up arguing in its favour, without even realising. Nor would it be an exaggeration to say that, for others again, it may even provide a desperately-needed life-line. For while the culture itself may be reprehensible… some of those 'favours' are indeed neces- sary. There are undoubtedly people out there somewhere, who have no realis- tic survival prospects at all: not without a friendly MP, from the same town, to provide a little 'assistance' every now and again. So if, say, I were to end this article as I originally intended: i.e., with an argu- ment in favour of 'one district, to end them all': i.e., abolishing Malta's district system altogether, and replacing it with Malta and Gozo as a single district, con- tested on party tickets (as opposed to lists of individual candidates – so that there wouldn't even be the possibility of rising to power through 'corrupt practices' and district level – my gut feeling tells me 90% of readers would violently disagree. Just as they disagreed with Robert Ab- ela, when he ignored district pressures, and acted on his own political calcula- tions; and just as they disagreed with Ber- nard Grech, for… um… not doing exactly the same thing… QUALITY is the driving force be- hind the Government's recent call for public consultation on the future of the local media industry, which will in turn aid in keeping our na- tional broadcaster relevant for to- day's society. The first step towards a pluralistic mediascape in Malta takes us back 30 years when Malta introduced leg- islation which helped push for com- petition in the local scene. By 1991, entities that wished to establish, or already had their television or radio stations, were given licences. Even then, the Public Broadcast- ing Services had to adapt to this newly c o m p e t i t i v e market. It was now competing with other au- dio-visual sta- tions and plat- forms for the country's best creatives and audiences. PBS is also experi- encing scrutiny from audience members who now have a myriad of in- formation di- verted to them. This brings us to another critical tool: relevance. The push any pro- duction and media compa- ny must give to ensure better quality and a more efficient, professional service for its audience. This is why the Govern- ment has encouraged all local pro- duction and media moguls to come together and discuss the future of this competitive industry, and how the revised Programme Statement of Intent (PSI) for 2021-2022 can ex- pose more talent and content. While the government believes that PBS must operate with an inde- pendent editorial approach, we also believe the company's services must appeal to, and attract artists who wish to produce new content. All this must be done while ensuring the company's commercial viability. Our mediascape must provide content which reflects our socie- ty, inspires and entertains. We now have a very good opportunity to ex- periment and study the wonders of television, radio and online content, and we have all the tools we need to think outside the box. Here we hope to identify new commitments broad- casters must adhere to and look into content with overseas potential. Not to mention the endless opportunities the audio-visual industry can also provide. Naturally, online will be a crucial platform to look into here. We need to look at how production and media compa- nies' content can be better shared and in- tegrated online, and eventual- ly lead us to a more custom- ized experi- ence, according to our consum- er's wants and needs. We are com- mitted to aid- ing in this innovative pro- cess, hence an investment of around €30m over the next five years for the national b r o a d c a s t e r , with the aim to have a quality variety of content. The government wholly believes in this industry and the priceless con- tribution its professionals bring to the table and is committed to pro- viding all necessary platforms for the industry to flourish. If you own an audio-visual station or are a production and media indus- try professional, I highly encourage you to join us on this exciting jour- ney. Our audiences deserve the best possible platform for the distribution of important information, entertain- ment, and of course, inspiration. Carmelo Abela Carmelo Abela is minister within the Office of the Prime Minister While the government believes that PBS must operate with an independent editorial approach, we also believe the company's services must appeal to, and attract artists who wish to produce new content